Alumni Profile: Rhea Daniels

By Annie Rhoades

Traveling around the world specializing in exercise physiology and wellness with the federal government, alumna Rhea Daniels (MS 99) never imagined she would one day serve as the well-being services manager for the Coca-Cola Company headquartered in Atlanta.

“I had absolutely no idea I would end up where I am,” Daniels said. “It wasn’t something I planned. I knew I wanted to help people, and I kind of let the stars align and guide me on this journey. So far I’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased with the opportunities I’ve been presented.”

Raised in Clarksville, Tenn., Daniels graduated from Clarksville High School in 1991 with her mind set on attending nearby Tennessee State University in Nashville.

“When I went to college I had already made the decision that I wanted to be a doctor – that I wanted to help people,” Daniels said. “While I was at TSU I had the opportunity to go to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, for a summer internship and met all different types of

physicians and physicians’ assistants. We had one visitor in particular give a presentation that was a public health educator and exercise physiologist. And what he was about really resonated with me. The basic premise was to help people to be well and have a higher quality of life for a longer period of time as opposed to just dealing with it once they become ill. That made a lot of sense to me.”

After returning from her internship Daniels decided to forego medical school and instead pursue an advanced degree in exercise physiology, wellness and health promotion. And Ole Miss had just the program she was looking for.

“I chose Ole Miss for a myriad of reasons,” Daniels said. “I guess a major point for me was it was a diverse university and community. I felt like that was important for me to really be able to develop and hone in on my own people skills. The other reason I chose Ole Miss was because one of my mentors Dr. Len Kravitz, who I met previously at an American College of Sports Medicine conference, had started teaching there. So it was kind of like fate.”

After receiving a master of science degree in 1999, Daniels accepted… Full Article